silverman



I L. SILVERMAN.

MAGAZINE FIRE ARM.

No. 405,375. Q Patented June .18, 1889.

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L. SILVERMAN. MAGAZINE FIRE ARM.

-N0. 405,375. Patented June 18, 1889.

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L. SILVERMAN.

MAGAZINE FIRE ARM. A

Patented June 18, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS SILVERMAN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

MAGAZIN E FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,37 5, dated June18, 1889.

Application filed september 11, 1888. Serial No. 285,102. (No model.)

To coZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS SILVERMAN, engineer, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, and a resident of London, England, have invented new anduseful Improvements in and Relating to Magazine or Repeating Fire- Arms,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to magazine or repeating fire-arms of the kind orclass wherein a falling breech-block is usedthat is to say, wherein thebreech-block is pivoted at its rear end and is connected with anoperating-lever arranged beneath the gunstock, so that by moving thesaid lever downward the breech may be opened, the empty cartridge-shellextracted, and the gun cooked, and by the upward movement of the saidlever the breech may be closed.

My said invention has for its object to provide novel, simple, andefficient means whereby when the breech has been opened and theempty'cartridge-shell extracted the transfer of a fresh cartridge fromthe magazine into the shoe or body of the gun and its insertion into thebarrel will be automatically performed.

An important feature of my said invention is the provision of a magazineand feeding and loading mechanism which can be readily attached to aMartini-Henry rifle without any alteration in the construction of thesaid rifle and can be readily detached therefrom. My improved feedingand loading mechanism is, moreover, so constructed that it will beactuated through the medium of the lever ordinarily employed foroperating the breech mechanism of the rifle.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a magazine provided withfeeding and loading mechanism in accordance with my said invention anddesigned for use with a Martini-Henry rifle.

Figure l is a side elevation of part of the rifle with the magazineattached thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the said magazinedecached. Fig. 3 is a front elevation, and Fig. 4 a rear elevation, ofthe said magazine. Fig. 5 is a side elevation thereof, the side plate,hereinafter referred to, being removed.

A is the shoe or body of the gun; B, the

trigger-guard; C, the lever for operating the breech mechanism, whichlever is pivoted at O to the shoe or body A, and is hereinafter termedthe block-lever.

a is the casing of the magazine, which is formed with lips or flanges aa adapted to engage, respectively, with the upper and under sides of theshoe or body A.

b is a spring-catch adapted to engage with the trigger-guard B to secureand retain the magazine upon the gun. To prevent displacement of themagazine on the gun, the side plate 0, which is next the gun when themagazine is attached thereto, is made with a hole 0, which fits upon theprojecting end of the indicator-pin or block-lever pin 0 of the gun, andthus constitutes a very rigid connection between the magazine and thegun.

The magazine may be provided with any well-known or suitable spring forelevating the cartridges therein. I prefer, however, to employ for thispurpose a spring (1, the convolutions of which are of rectangular shape,

and which is arranged in the rear end of the magazine, so that it willact upon the rear ends or bases of the cartridges, the forward end ofthe magazine being so inclined that the bullet ends of the cartridgeswill slide up the same as the bases thereof are raised by the spring d.

The magazine is curved at the top, and has at the side next the gun anopening a through which the cartridges elevated by the spring willsuccessively fall into position to be thrust into the chamber of thegun, as hereinafter described. The said magazine is moreover providedwith a shield e, which prevents the escape of the cartridges and insurestheir falling into the shoe or body of the gun.

To the side of the magazine is pivoted, at f, a bent lever f, the arm fof which is provided with studs or projections f f adapted to engagewith the block-lever O when the magazine is applied to the gun, so thatin the downward movement of the said block-lever to open the breech thesaid bent lever f will be turned upon its pivot f, as and for thepurpose hereinafter described. The other arm f of the said bent lever isprovided with a projection f, for the purposes hereinafter specified.

Upon the pivot-pin f of the said bent lever is also pivoted anelbow-lever g, with which is combined a coiled spring inclosed in acasing g. A peculiarly-shaped bent plate h is firmly attached to theupper end of the said elbow-lever g. This plate is so shaped that itslower edge will fit into the hollow or cavity in the upper side of thebreech-block. The lever g is sometimes provided witha pin or projectiong to facilitate the backward movement of the same by hand. I/Vhen theblock-lever C is moved down to open the breech, the projection f? on thebent lever f engages with the edge of the elbow-lever g and forces thesaid lever backward, thus winding up or compressing its spring. In thisbackward movement of the two levers the projection f passes over acatchor projection j on the side of the magazine. In the first portion of thereturn movement of the levers f g the said projection f slides upon aninclined surface of the said catch or proj ection j, as shown in Fig. 5,and is thus disengaged from the elbow-lever g, the forward or returnmovement of which is then completed by its coiled spring. \Vhen theelbowlever g is moved backward, as above described, it allows acartridge to fall from the magazine into the space in front of the saidbent plate 7L, and in the return movement of the said elbow-lever thesaid cartridge is thrust into the barrel by the said plate h acting uponthe rear end or base of the cartridge.

In the Martini-Henry rifle the block-lever, after it has been moveddownward through the required angle to open the breech and has beenreleased, returns automatically through a small angle by reason of thepeculiar construction and arrangement of the breech mechanism. I utilizethis partial return movement of the said block-lever as follows: In suchpartial return movement of the said block lever the bent lever f isturned upon its pivot, and the projection f on the said bent lever,sliding upon the inclined surface on the catch j, is disengaged from thesaid elbow-lever g. The coiled spring then reacts and moves forward theelbow-lever g, which passes over the projection f on the bent lever f,and during this forward movement of the elbow lever the bent plate h,pivoted thereto, acting upon the base or head of the cartridge in frontof it, forces the said cartridge into the chamber of the gun, as abovedescribed. When the blocklever C is moved upward to close the breech,the bent lever f is moved back to its normal position and again engageswith the elbowlever g.

The elbow-lever in its normal position covers or partly covers theaperture a in the side of the magazine, so that the cartridges areprevented from being pushed out by the spring until the breech is opened and the said elbow-lever moved back, so as to be clear of the saidaperture. A stop is pivoted at 7a to the rear end of the magazine, sothat it can be turned down in front of the lever g when the latter is atthe rear end of its movement, so as to hold the said lever back and thuspermit the filling of the magazine with cartridges through the aperture(6 or the use of the rifle as a single-loader. The said stop can, whendesired, be turned back into the position shown in Fig. 4 to permit theaction of the said lever g.

To provide for holding down the cartridges in the magazine andpermitting the raising thereof by means of the spring, so that they aresuccessively fed into position to be thrust into the barrel, a springstop or catch Z is attached to the forward end of the magazine, itsupper end being bent so that it enters a hole in the said magazine, asshown in Figs.

1, 2, 3, and 5, and holds down the cartridges therein. The spring Z isformed with a projection Z, having fixed therein a pin or stud Z uponwhich the lever Q will act when moved forward, thus withdrawing thespring stop or catch Z from the magazine, so that the cartridges mayberaised therein by the spring (Z. The uppermost cartridge cannot,however, escape from the magazine until the lever g is moved back clearof the aperture a In this backward movement the spring stop or catch Zisallowed to enter the magazine between the uppermost cartridge thereinand the one next below it, so that while the said uppermost cartridge isfree to fall into or upon the shoe or body of the gun the remainingcartridges in the magazine are held down by the said stop or catch Z.

In fire-arms of the kind or class above referred to, wherein there is noautomatic return or partial return of the block-lever, I sometimesprovide a spring or springs for effecting a partial automatic returnmovement of the bentlever f for the purpose above specified. The saidbent lever is sometimes con.- nected with the block-lever C by othermeans than those above described. For example, the said lever may beprovided with a stud and friction-rollers working in a slot in the saidblock-lever. Moreover, the construction and arrangement of the parts arein some instances otherwise modified to suit fire-arms differing inconstruction from the Martini- Henry rifle.

In some instances I make the spring-catch of the magazine to enter thescrew-hole of the trigger-pivot and engage with the bottom of the shoe,which projects partly over the said hole, or the magazine is providedwith a catch adapted to engage with any other suitable part of the gun.

IVhat I claim is 1. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm, ofa pivoted block-lever, a' detachable cartridge-magazine arranged on thefirearm and having a side discharge-opening at its top, a spring locatedin the magazine for raising the cartridges, a bent lever pivoted betweenits ends on the inner side of the magazine and engaged at its lower endby the block-lever, and an elbow-lever pivoted on the inn er side of themagazine and engaged and disengaged by the upper end of the bent lever,and having a plate at its upper end to fit a breech-block and advance acartridge into the gun-barrel, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm, of a pivote'dblock-lever, a cartridgemagazine secured to the fire-arm and having acurved top, a lateral top discharge-opening, and a laterally-projectingcurved shield to overhang the shoe of the fire-arm, a spring located inthe magazine to elevate the cartridges, a bent lever pivoted between itsends to the inner side of the magazine and engaged at its lower end withthe block-lever, and a lever pivoted at its lower end to the inner sideof the magazine, engaged and disengaged by the upper end of the bentlever, and having at its upper end a plate to advance a cartridge alonga breech-block into the gun-barrel, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm, of the pivotedblock-lever, a magazine secured to the fire-arm and having a sideopening at the top of its inner side, a spring in the magazine forelevating the cartridges, an elbow-lever pivoted to the inner side ofthe magazine and having at its upper end a laterally-projecting plate tofit the groove in a breech-block and advance a cartridge into thegun-barrel, and a lever pivoted to the inner side of the magazine,connected with and swung by the block-lever, and having a projection toengage and disengage the elbowlever to swing it rearward when theblocklever is depressed, substantially as described.

4:. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm having a pivotedblock-lever for operatingthe breech-block, of a magazine having a sideopening and a curved upper end for directing the cartridges laterallythrough the side opening, a spring for moving the cartridges toward saidcurved end, a pivoted elbow-lever having a plate at its upper end foradvancing the cartridges into the barrel, a bent lever connected withthe block-lever and having a projection f engaging the elbowlever, and acatchj, for disengaging the proj ection from the elbow-lever,substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm having a shoe A and ablock-lever O for moving the breech-block, of the magazinecasing a,having a side opening a and the upper and lower lateral flanges a aengaging, respectively, the upper and lower edges of the shoe, a springin the casing for moving the cartridges to the side opening, and a leveractuated by the movement of the block-lever to advance the cartridgesinto the barrel, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm having a shoe A, of apivoted blocklever C, a magazine-casing a, having upper and lowerlateral flanges a a respectively, engaging the upper and lower edges ofthe shoe, and a lateral spring-catch b, detachably oted to the side ofthe magazinecasing, en-

gaged by the upper end of the bent lever, and having at its upper end-alateral plate to advance a cartridge along a breech-block into thegun-barrel, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm, of a magazinedetachably secured thereto and having a curved top, an inclined portion,a top side opening, and an overhanging curved top shield, a spring (1,located wholly in the rear part of the magazine to act only on the rearends or bases of the cartridges, a pivoted block-lever, a bent leverpivoted on the magazine and engaged by the block-lever, and anelbow-lever pivoted on the magazine, engaged by the bent lever, andhaving a plate to advance the cartridges into the gun-barrel,substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm having a pivotedblock-lever for operating the breech-block, of a magazine having a sideopening and a spring for moving the cartridges to said opening, aspring-inipelled elbow-lever g, movable past the said side opening, anda bent lever f, connected with and operated by the block-lever andengaging and disengaging the spring-impelled lever, substantially asdescribed.

9. The combination, with a breech-loading fire-arm having a pivotedblock-lever for operating the breech-block, of a cartridge-magazinehaving a side opening and an upper curved end for directing thecartridges laterally through the opening, a spring for moving thecartridges toward the said curved end, the pivoted elbow-lever swingingpast the side opening and serving to hold the cartridges in the magazinewhen said lever is in the forward position, and a pivoted bent leverloosely connected with the block-lever and engaging the elbow-lever toswing the latter rearward when the block-lever is operated to open thebreech, substantially as described.

10. A cartridge-magazine for a breech-loading gun having a block-leverfor operating the breech-block, consisting of a casing having a sideopening, upper and lower flanges a, 01?, to engage the upper and loweredgesof the gun-shoe, and a lateral catch b, to detachably engage a partof the gun, an elbow-lever g, for advancing the cartridges to thegunbarrel, and a bent lever f, engaging the elbow-lever and having studsf f to loosely engage the block-lever, substantially as described.

11. A cartridge-magazine for a breech-loading gun, having a pivotedblock-lever for operating the breech-block, consisting of a casing a,having a side opening a a curved upper portion for directing thecartridges laterally through the opening, a spring d, for moving thecartridges upward, the upper and lower flanges a a for engaging theupper and lower edges of the gun-shoe, a lateral catch b, for detachablyengaging a part of the gun, an elbow-lever g, pivoted on the casing andhaving the bent plate h at its upper end,

.a bent lever f, mounted on the pivot of the elbow-lever, provided witha projection f and having studs f f, for loosely engaging theblock-lever, and a catch j on the casing 10 for disengaging theprojection on the bent lever from the elbow-lever, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing Witnesses.

LoUIs SILVERMAN.

Witnesses:

JNo. DEAN, HERBERT E. DALE.

